1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the field of aircraft flight control and instrumentation, more particularly to the field of displaying flight information sourced from a plurality of sensors and/or devices.
2. Background of the Invention
Aircraft flight control is a complex activity involving the management of information from numerous instruments that keep track of aircraft flight states including three axes of position and velocity, three axes of aircraft attitude, wind, engine and airframe configuration, flaps, trim. For proper, efficient, and safe flight, the pilot must keep track of and manage all of this information, often in a rapidly changing environment.
Historically, flight information has been displayed on individual instruments, typically using electromechanical displays. Heading has been displayed on a heading display driven from a heading gyro. Horizon information has been displayed on an artificial horizon display driven from a horizon gyro. More recently, modern cockpits are beginning to use “glass” displays, i.e., computer graphic displays rather than electromechanical displays. (“Glass” displays may in fact utilize plastic transparent layers instead of actual glass.) Glass displays offer advantages in flexibility of display pattern, simplicity in construction, potentially lower cost, lighter weight and other advantages. The advent of larger brighter displays has stimulated a trend to combine multiple conventional instrument information in a single display. Multiple flight instruments may be displayed in an EFIS (Electronic Flight Instrument System). Multiple engine instruments may be displayed in an EMS (Engine Monitoring System).
The complete flexibility of a glass display, however, can be an obstacle as well as an advantage, permitting a wide range of unfamiliar, non-intuitive display symbols in unfamiliar relationships and allowing complex modes of operation requiring too much pilot input to obtain essential information.
Therefore, there is a need for a flight information display that combines information from multiple sources and presents the essential information in an intuitive, simple to operate display format that minimizes pilot workload and fatigue.